why do we close our eyes when we pray

Why Do We Close Our Eyes To Pray? When it s time to pray during worship, we all generally do the same thing we bow our heads, close our eyes and fold our hands into our laps. But why do we do that? Like everything else we do in the name of worship, our prayer habits deserve scrutiny in light of the Word of God. In the Bible, people of God prayed in a variety of ways. Some prayed standing. Jesus commanded, Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone (Mark 11:25). This prayer position even has a name that goes way back it s called the Orans position, Latin for praying. In this position, the people of God lift their hands toward God (and Paul says to make sure those hands are holy before lifting them, 1 Timothy 2:8). The worshiper might also look toward heaven in his supplication (John 17:1). Sometimes the worshiper might instead choose to kneel. Jesus prayed this way in the garden during His greatest anguish, Luke 22:41-44. When we kneel, we might not be in the mood to look above. The Publican in his humiliation kept his eyes down while praying for mercy in Luke 18:13. Some might even choose to close their eyes when they re feeling this way. But at other times men of God would fall all the way to the ground during prayer, as Jesus did later in the Garden of Gethsemane. The Lord was too overwhelmed in spirit to get any higher, Matthew 26:38-39. There were also times when the people of God sat to pray, as we generally do.

David sat before the Lord to wonder out loud about the mercies and blessings of God in 2 Samuel 7:18. So what is the right way to pray? Well, it depends on what we are trying to express before God. When we are speaking intimately to our Father about our lives and His plans, we might look towards the heavens. We might feel the need to plead upwards one day, and fall on our faces before Him the next. Sometimes we might need to have a seat, while other prayers could not express the right message without prostration. There are many ways Christians pray, and there are just as many reasons for the variety. I suppose most of us feel like closing our eyes denotes respect and concentration. Some have told me that closing their eyes is too distracting. So they shouldn t do it. Some aspects of prayer, however, cannot be missing while we re communing with the Lord. Christians do not let their minds wander during prayer. It is the responsibility of each Christian to make the prayer meaningful and reverent. God s people work hard to do so, not letting anything distract them a poor prayer by the leader, crying babies, heat, busy lives nothing interferes with their conversation to their God. Christians do not forget the amen. The amen is the agreement of the congregation to the sentiment of the prayer (1 Corinthians 14:16). It should only be absent when we disagree or do not understand.

Christians do not pray thoughtlessly. My mind wants to wander during the prayer, and my best weapon against it seems to be repeating the prayer to myself, or rewording it into my own thoughts as the leader prays. I ve heard others quietly amen or yes, Lord the individual sections of the prayer to keep themselves engaged. Either way, congregations of God s people find a way to make the prayer their own. Christians pray with full participation. They don t believe the person speaking is the primary pray-er. Everyone is fully engaged, pouring out their emotions and requests to their Father. They may even be adding their own individual thoughts and requests up at the same time. And when each person has finished, they feel like they have just given of themselves to their God. So when you pray, go ahead and sit with your hands folded if you must. Bow your head silently and close your eyes if necessary. But be sure that your heart is wide open before the Maker. Email to a Friend Add your personal message or comments here. (A link to this page will automatically be included your email. )Do We Have to Close Our Eyes When We Pray? Dear reader, What an interesting question! The Bible mentions several prayer postures and positions. These include standing, kneeling, and lying down. The head may be bowed or looking up into the heavens. The hands may be uplifted, expecting to receive blessings from God.

The Bible gives no direct instructions about these positions of the body. It appears that they are acceptable since they convey specific meaning. For example, kneeling shows submission. Bowing the head shows humility and respect. Falling on one s face would show complete dependency. If the person is sincere, and not trying to put on a show or impress others, these positions are acceptable. But what about our eyes when we pray? On two occasions, when Jesus prayed to the Father, He lifted up His eyes to heaven (John 11:41; 17:1). On the other hand, when the tax collector prayed, he would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven (Luke 18:13). So the Bible simply does not specify whether our eyes are to be closed or open. Most people probably close their eyes so that they are not distracted by movement around them, enabling them to concentrate better on the prayer. The important thing is to pray with the right attitude and in harmony with God s will (James 5:13-15). Copyright 2009 Apologetics Press, Inc. All rights reserved. *Please keep in mind that Discovery articles are written for 3rd-6th graders. This document may be copied, on the condition that it will not be republished in print unless otherwise stated below, and will not be used for any commercial purpose, as long as the following stipulations are observed: (1) Apologetics Press must be designated as the original publisher; (2) the specific Apologetics Press Web site URL must be noted; (3) any references, footnotes, or endnotes that accompany the article must be included with any written reproduction of the article; (4) textual alterations of any kind are strictly forbidden; (5) Some illustrations (e. g. , photographs, charts, graphics, etc. ) are not the intellectual property of Apologetics Press and as such cannot be reproduced from our site without consent from the person or organization that maintains those intellectual rights; (6) serialization of written material (e. g. , running an article in several parts) is permitted, as long as the whole of the material is made available, without editing, in a reasonable length of time; (7) articles, excepting brief quotations, may not be offered for sale or included in items offered for sale; and (8) articles may be reproduced in electronic form for posting on Web sites pending they are not edited or altered from their original written content and that credit is given to Apologetics Press, including the web location from which the articles were taken.

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